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Bucket loads more on sees their role in that, that is exciting.”
Starting as chief executive at Schlam
in October, Thomas has settled in quick
and engaged with corporate advisors to
the cards for Schlam start planning the next stages of growth for
Schlam.
Having spent time with SGS based in
North America, Thomas’ familiarity with
att Thomas has entered the fray at nancial officer Ron Kurniadi who is well the region means he would be comfortable
MSchlam at the tail-end of a company- equipped to act as company secretary with enhancing the Schlam brand in the US
defining period. across all of Schlam’s entities given his and Canada, however, he is fully aware of
Four years ago Ryan Schlam pitched for experience in similar roles in Australia and the competition to be faced there.
Ausdrill’s DT HiLoad dump truck tray man- South East Asia at companies such as Despite the difficulties of travel during a
ufacturing business – a purchase which Clough, AGC and UGL. pandemic, Thomas is bullish on Schlam’s
proved the catalyst for exponential growth Key appointments are often brought into expansion prospects in the next 12 months.
for the company on the back of three other companies to save sinking ships, however, “Travel will be a restriction to a degree,
acquisitions and expansion into Western Thomas and Kurniadi start at Schlam in but not insurmountable,” he said. “I think
Australia’s Pilbara mining scene. much better circumstances. that there is a real possibility to expand
Acquiring DT HiLoad, which was estab- “What has been challenging is coming over the next 12 months. We are very open
lished in 2003, was aligned with Schlam’s into a business that was already travelling to expansion into different product lines,
existing suite of services and greatly boost- very well and wondering ‘how much longer different services, different geographies,
ed its manufacturing capabilities. is this going to go on for and how do we different partnerships; we are open to all
By bringing DT HiLoad under the Schlam sustain it?’,” Thomas told Paydirt. this.
banner, which has forged a reputation Thomas brings a “nothing is too tough” “We have a very proactive board, and
our strategic plan is guiding us in that direc-
tion. So, I do think we will have something
lined up in 12 months, whether it will be an
agency, dealership or will we have our own
manufacturing facility somewhere; that is
all being considered.”
Thomas said there was currently work
being conducted by Schlam in Kazakh-
stan, while opportunities in South Africa
were also under consideration.
“At the end of the day, we would like
to follow and support our clients on their
growth trajectory, but also remembering
that we are not producing widgets that can
be bagged and put on a plane. So, we have
to consider how we go about building and
constructing these trays, buckets and oth-
er products to the desired quality in other
countries,” Thomas said.
Matt Thomas joined Schlam as chief executive in October to lead a 330-strong workforce “We are working through these things,
and international expansion is high on my
through its flagship Hercules trays, Barra- attitude to Schlam and with his broad in- agenda. We are working with our corporate
cuda buckets and other ancillary products, ternational experience in similar roles with advisors, and part of their remit is market
the company essentially went from a busi- Coffey International, ASCO Group and entry strategies; what do they look like, how
ness producing 22 trays per year to servic- more recently HiSeis, he appears a good do we enter a new market and how to navi-
ing the major mining houses in WA with match to deliver a heightened level of or- gate all the complications that go with it.
many more annually. ganisational governance and operational “In terms of Africa, my experience at
“We are excited to have increased discipline to a team looking at broader ex- HiSeis is that there are many countries
our manufacturing capability in this area posure in the six continents where its prod- across that continent, which poses sig-
through the addition of a respected com- ucts are already present. nificant difficulties. West Africa has some
pany; DT HiLoad offers a unique product, With an emphasis on team and send- huge opportunities in places like Cote
offering large productivity and reliability ing everyone home safely day-in-day-out, d’Ivoire, while there are opportunities in
gains for our customers,” Schlam manag- Thomas is confident of achieving Schlam’s Egypt on the East Coast of the continent.
ing director Ryan Schlam said in 2016. ambition of being on every mine site in the Parts of Africa are difficult to get in and out
Ryan Schlam (executive director) has world. of, but we need to consider all those op-
continued the family legacy established “I truly believe that if we work as a team tions. We need to make sure that any in-
by his father, Barry, who started Schlam – bringing the collective wisdom and expe- ternational expansion is done so in a very
Welding in 1996, and now Thomas has riences of our people together – then that strategic manner. We don’t turn up and
been appointed chief executive to drive the is worth so much more than the sum of the think we are going to play like we do in Aus-
company’s next phase of growth. parts,” Thomas said. tralia because it is just not like that.”
Joining Thomas to steer Schlam’s three- “If everyone has bought into our vision, – Mark Andrews
year strategic growth plan is new chief fi- ideologies and principles and everyone

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